Many Uber drivers are working 12 hours a day

Company says it plans to limit working hours

MPs have criticised Uber after it emerged that hundreds of drivers are working the equivalent of almost 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

The commons business committee said the scale of long hours would be a “concern” for anyone booking a journey with an overworked driver. It came as Andrew Byrne, Uber UK’s head of public policy, outlined average hours in a letter to the cross-party group.

He said drivers logged on to the company’s app — allowing them to pick up passengers — for an average of 30 hours a week. Uber, which has about 50,000 drivers in Britain, said 2.6 per cent were logged in for more than 70 hours and 0.8 per cent for at least 80 hours. It means 400 log on for the equivalent of 11-and-a-half hours, seven days a week.

Mr Byrne insisted this was not total hours as drivers could be logged on while on a break or doing other things. Uber is working on plans to limit hours.

Rachel Reeves, Labour chairwoman of the committee, said: “Passengers will want to know they are safe.”